For refusing to participate in programs for sex offenders, actor Bill Cosby was denied parole.
Cosby, 83, has long said he will resist the programs and refuses to acknowledge any crime even if it means serving his 10-year prison sentence. This is the first year he was eligible for parole under the sentence of three to 10 years that was imposed upon him after being convicted in 2018.
Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt said the decision was “appalling” and that Cosby “vehemently proclaims his innocence.”
Meanwhile Cosby hopes that the Supreme Court, which heard his appeal in December, will reverse the sentence he received in the first trial of a celebrity in the #MeToo era. Cosby’s attorneys say the trial was flawed because five more accusers were able to testify to support the sexual assault complaint filed by a former manager of the Temple University basketball team. They also said the judge should not have let the jury hear the damaging testimony of Cosby’s accuser, Andrea Constand, presented in a civil lawsuit.
Cosby is serving his sentence at the State Correctional Institute-Phoenix in Montgomery County. The case stems from a 2004 encounter with Constand at her residence near Philadelphia. The two had met in Temple, where Cosby was a longtime board member and used to visit campus. The Associated Press does not typically identify victims of sexual abuse without their consent, which has been given by Constand.
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